12 Tags of 2013 May

Hi! Today I am sharing my version of Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2013 May. I had lots of fun with the mix of rubs, stamps and Distress Stains. I haven't used rub-ons in quite some time.

I wanted to used the fabulous ship stamp, love Tim's transportation stamps and I am happy they are now available in a smaller size (Travel Ways set). When applying the rub-ons, I planned where the ship would be stamped so that I had a rough idea of what to place where. I didn't apply my rub-ons quite as distressed as Tim did, but instead, I sanded them a bit before inking the tag with Distress Stains.

I placed the distress stains (Salty Ocean, Squeezed Lemonade, Spiced Marmalade) on my craft sheet so that it would roughly look like the sea and a sunset once they were transferred to the tag.  

 

I love the small word rub-ons, the perfect little addition to a project. The birds and compass were stamped and the rest of the images are rubs. The crinkle ribbon was dyed with Squeezed Lemonade and Salty Ocean.

I also added two mini gears which were distressed with Salty Ocean and Peeled Paint Distress Paint.

I first rubbed Salty Ocean paint into the words, then changed my mind and used white instead, which resulted in nice textured letters. The word band was dabbed with Black Soot paint to distress it and the brads were painted with Salty Ocean.

Star rubs on the ship, a number from Label Letters and I like the sentiment in the water, with the bits of white to highlight it.

I didn't have the enameled tags that Tim used, so instead I made my own by die cutting a tag from grungeboard with the Sizzix Tiny Tabs & Tags, which is a very useful die to have. I painted it white, sanded the edges and distressed it with a needle tool. It was inked with Black Soot and coated with my trusty Glossy Accents. When the Glossy Accents was dry, I rubbed on the words.

More rubs and stamping. The little bits of one of the text stamps from the Travel Ways set adds great texture.

Thank you for looking!!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Dies: Sizzix: Tiny Tabs & Tags
Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz: Travel Ways, Warehouse District, Mini Ornates
Ink: Distress Ink: Black Soot, Salty Ocean; Ranger Archival Jet Black
Stain: Distress Stain: Squeezed Lemonade, Salty Ocean, Spiced Marmalade
Paint: Distress Paint: Picket Fence, Salty Ocean, Peeled Paint, Black Soot
Surfaces: Tim Holtz Idea-ology grungeboard; manila tag
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology Remnant Rubs: Words, Numbers, Elements; Label Letters, Mini Gears, Word Bands, Crinkle Ribbon, Long Fasteners, Mini Fasteners
Adhesive: Ranger Glossy Accent

Clear Butterfly Pop-Up

Hello everyone! Today I have a pop-up card to share which features a bunch of fun techniques: dies, clear elements, inky watercolour paper, stamping and molding paste. I was sending something to Karen Burniston (for a project you'll have to wait a while to see), and I sent this card a long. She received it yesterday, so now I can share.

When starting out, I only knew that I wanted to make a clear pop-up and see if it would work to use a stencil and molding paste to add something to it. I made stencils using the Mini Butterflies dies (see this tutorial). First the acetate was stamped with a swirl stamp and white Stazon ink, which adds great depth to the card. The acetate was die cut with the 3-D Label pop-up, using the pop 'n cuts base tray.

I mixed blue and yellow paint into light molding paste, not letting them mix completely to add colour variation to the butterflies. I got this idea from a post by Jan Hobbins. Thank you for this idea Jan! The paste was applied through my homemade stencil with a palette knife and left to dry. When dry, I dry-brushed a bit of yellow paint on top to increase the texture and added a rhinestone trail. It looks like the butterfly is sort of floating on the pop-up.

I added two molding paste butterflies on the inside, using both of the Mini Butterfly dies.

A Darkroom Door sentiment stamp, from the Bright Blossoms Vol 1 set, was stamped on a label die cut from ledger paper. I used watercolour paper as my base for the card, applied Distress Stains to my craft sheet and misted the paper heavily with water before dragging through the inks. It was stamped with a new Hero Arts ledger stamp and one of my favorites, the alphabet stamp from Tim Holtz School Desk set.

Love this layered stamp look. The small sentiment stamps come from Darkroom Door Wildflowers Vol. 1 set.

This is the front of the card. The flowers were die cut from scrap papers using the Tattered Flower Garland die and layered together with a brad in the middle, the flowers on the inside of the card were done in the same way. A Simple Saying was stamped on a Tattered Banner die cut from ledger paper.

 

I had some left over paste, and used a Mini Mosaic stencil on the front of the card to apply it through. You can see that the blue and yellow paints have mixed more at this stage, giving a greener colour. This was left to dry before colouring the background with Distress Stains.

I stenciled a third butterfly on acetate, cut it out and adhered with foam dots. On this butterfly, you can clearly see that the acrylic paints weren't completely mixed.

Here you can see the mechanism of the card better, it is hard to photograph clear pop-up cards.
Thank you for looking!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Dies: Sizzix: 3-D Label pop 'n cuts, Pop 'n Cuts Base Tray,  Love Set Sizzlits, Mini Butterflies, Tattered Banners, Tattered Flower Garland
Stamps: Darkroom Door: Bright Blossoms Vol. 1, Wildflowers Vol. 1; Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz School Desk, Tiny Texture, Simple Sayings; Hero Arts: Life Can Be S5773, Friend Collage AC022
Ink: Ranger Archival Jet Black; Distress Ink: Broken China; Stazon White
Stain: Distress Stain: Mustard Seed Squeezed Lemonade, Tumbled Glass, Evergreen Bough
Paint: Golden Artist Paint: Cobalt Blue, Primary Yellow
Medium: Golden Artist Paint Light Molding Paste
Stencil: The Crafter's Workshop: Mini Mosaic
Surfaces: Daler & Rowney watercolour paper; 7Gypsies Postale Ledger 8 x 8 pad; Studio Calico Classics 3 6 x 6 pad; acetate
Embellishments: Panduro white rhinestones; lace trim

Time Accordion Card

Which is your favourite ink pad? Which inkpad do you reach for the most? This week at Simon Says Stamp & Show the challenge is to use your favourite ink pad.

This is almost an impossible choice for me, I have many favourite ink pads, but of all of them, Ranger Archival Jet Black ink is the most versatile and the ink I use the most. It makes its appearance of almost every project of mine.  I love that it is waterproof and can be stamped on many different surfaces.

I made a double-high accordion card using Karen Burniston's Sizzix Accordion Flip 3-D album die. You can see how to make the album double-high here. This height was perfect for the new Tim Holtz Time Traveler stamps, by Brett Weldele. Fabulous images and lots of fun to colour.

 

I love making accordion cards and little books (here's another double-high one and here's a tutorial for an ordinary sized one). They are so much fun to make and to receive and there is plenty of space for embellishments.

I stamped the two gentlemen on watercolour paper with Archival Jet Black ink. Here's my well-used ink pad, I actually had to re-ink it again just yesterday. This ink pad is never far from my reach on my desk. It doesn't even have a storage place, because I always leave it straight in front of me.

I also decided to use three of my favourite Distress Inks: Antique Linen, Gathered Twigs, and Salty Ocean, for all the colour on the card. I couldn't craft without Antique Linen, it is my most used Distress Ink. Love the blue of Salty Ocean and the brown of Gathered Twigs. They look great together too.

After letting the Jet Black ink dry for a while, I watercoloured the gentlemen with the tree Distress Inks. This is one of my favourite ways of using both the Archival Ink and distress ink. If you are planning to watercolour, you need to stamp with a waterproof ink, otherwise it will smear. I just smeared the three distress inks on my craft sheet, gave them each one mist of water and coloured the images with a paint brush. Depending on how much water you use, you can get many shades of colour from just one ink pad. I always make sure to mist at the edge of a colour on my craft sheet, so that I have some concentrated ink to work with too.

 

This is the front of the card when it is closed. I stamped the edges with a stamp from Tim Holtz School Desk set, again with the Jet Black ink.

 

The letters were die cut from black kraft-core cardstock, sanded and inked. The panels were die cut from natural sticky-back canvas and coloured by smearing Salty Ocean and Gathered Twigs on my craft sheet, misting the canvas heavily with water (you can even go and run it under a tap) and then dipping it into the ink. When dry, I used a background stamp to add texture, stamping with Gathered Twigs.

The light bulb was distressed with Antique Linen Distress Paint.

The clock was stamped on Ranger's Specialty Stamping paper with Archival Jet Black. I love the detail you get with this ink on Specialty Stamping and on glossy cardstock. I just couldn't help to add some gears and game spinners too.

The second panel of the card, also photographed with the card closed, to better capture the details. This gentleman was coloured the same way. After cutting them out, I inked the edges with Gathered Twigs. I stamped a sentiment from Elements of Time on the canvas panel, with Archival Jet Black.

The edges of the canvas panels were frayed a bit and inked with Gathered Twigs.

The ticket was die cut from Specialty Stamping Paper, stamped with the coordinating ticket stamp and inked with Gathered Twigs. Isn't it a great brown? I also used some chit chat stickers.

 

Here's a view from the top so that you can see the mechanism of the card.

 

I hope you will join us this week and show us a project with your favourite ink pad. As every week, our wonderful sponsor Simon Says Stamp gives a $50 gift voucher to one random participant. 

Thank you for the visit! I hope you will have a great week!

 

Happy Stamping!!

 

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz: Time Travelers, School Desk, Warehouse District, Stuff to Say, Going Somewhere, Elements of Time, Ultimate Grunge
Dies: Sizzix: Accordion Flip 3-D Album, Bracket Frame & Label, Mini Filmstrip & Tickets, Wanted Sizzlits
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black; Distress Ink: Antique Linen, Gathered Twigs, Salty Ocean
Paint: Distress Paint Antique Linen
Surfaces: Tim Holtz Idea-ology Lost & Found paper stash; Claudine Hellmuth Natural Sticky-Back Canvas; Tim Holtz Core'dinations Kraft-Core cardstock; Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper; watercolour paper
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Game Spinners, Sprocket Gears, Long Fasteners, Light Bulbs, Chit Chat stickers

Neverland Scenic Stamping

Today I am sharing my second scene for the May challenge at Craft a Scene, 'Ships in the Night'. There is still plenty of time to join us in the challenge.

On my last scene, 'The Black Pearl', Alison left a comment that it reminded her of Peter Pan, which I totally agreed with, and one reason might have been that we have often read Peter Pan at bedtime lately. I thought it was a great idea for another scene. Thank you Alison!

This is another half-sheet scene (8.5 x 5.5 in), done on glossy cardstock and coloured with dye inks. I used the sweet Neverland set from Artistic Outpost for the children and the sentiment. I wanted an island of course and used two new Stampscapes stamps, Rocky Waterside Left and Right for that. They are mirror images of each other. Here's a scene where I used them in another way. I stamped the one fully, and used a stamp positioner to line up the second one to create the island. To reduce the mirrored effect a bit, I added some more pine trees and bushes to the island, and the Stampscapes Spooky Branch sm. stamp was perfect for Peter Pan's hideout, the Hangman's Tree. I used the same ship as on The Black Pearl scene and wished I had a crocodile stamp too. I wanted a rough sea and stamped the Waves Sm. repeatedly. The sky is simple, with just a few clouds and birds.

I was in the mood for a black and white scene. If you have never tried this, I encourage you to try it out, it is a great way to learn about values, shadows and highlights and it is fun doing a scene with very few inks. You could use only black ink, but I like to start out with a lighter grey and used two shades of grey in addition to black. The stars and highlights were added with a white gel pen and quite a bit of mist with white pigment ink, dry-brushed on the scene.

Thank you for stopping by!!

Happy stamping!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Stamps: Artistic Outpost Neverland; Beeswax Ship; Stampscapes: Tree Duo 085A, Cloud Bits 292C, Waves Sm. 297C, Spooky Branch Sm., Rocky Waterside Left 324G, Rocky Waterside Right 325G, Winter Twigs 367B
Ink: Ranger Archival Jet Black ink; Distress Ink: Black Soot; Jenni Bowlin: Weather Vane; Memento: Grey Flannel; Colorbox Frost White
Surface: Kromecote glossy cardstock

CSI case file 72: Snow Racer

Hello weekend! And of course a new CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration case file. Here it is:

I love the kraft background and whimsical images. My layout:

I felt like a winter layout and these photos fit very well with the case file. From the evidence I used: something clear, bird, book page, kraft background and metal. From the testimony: I placed my journaling in a glassine pocket and the layout is also partly about balance.

I used a stencil and light molding paste for the snowflake and part of the title and also added some glittery foam snowflakes, my supply of which has dwindled lately because my son got hold of them and pasted them in neat rows all over his toy drawer unit. I layered dictionary and patterned papers under the photos.

The two birds were stamped on the background and coloured with coloured pencils. Love the texture of the molding paste and the light paste is great because it doesn't add much weight to the layout and it is an opaque white.

I had just die cut a row of pine trees from clear packaging for another project, but hadn't used it, it was perfect for this layout. I coloured it at the back with Juniper and Bottle alcohol ink and added some snow with Picket Fence Distress Paint. The snowflakes were die cut from dictionary and patterned papers and layered together with a mini gear in the center.

Here's a close-up of the texture of the snowflakes.

Journaling summary: 'This is our old snowracer, which was first our cousin's, so it is pretty old. That is good quality. Imagine all the fun this snowracer has had through the years. Anton was so very happy when he could sit behind his cousin (who had been skiing) on the snowracer and be pulled. It wasn't half as fun to sit on your own. Very very cold weather.'

Thank you for the visit! I hope you will have a great weekend!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Dies: Sizzix: Tree Line On the Edge, Snowflakes Framelits, Snowflake Frame, Tag & Tie
Stamps: Stampendous Snow Bird; Prima: Lyric bird; Graphic 45 Typewriter Letters
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black
Alcohol Ink: Ranger Adirondack: Juniper, Bottle
Paint: Distress Paint: Picket Fence
Stencil: Dylusions: Let it Snow
Medium: Golden Light Molding Paste
Surfaces: Prima Sunset/Sunrise 6 x 6 pad; MME Collectable
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology Word Sticks, Mini Gears, Seasonal Chit Chat stickers; Pom Pom trim; Making Memories glassine envelope; Baker's Twine

Susan's Garden Birdhouse and Flowers tutorial

Hi everyone! Today I am sharing a fun tutorial on the Sizzix blog, using the brand new Susan's Garden dies by Susan Tierney-Cockburn. When I first saw them, I knew I would love these dies, since I like to make my own flowers. You can see the whole collection here.

Here's the finished project, a happy birdhouse surrounded by flowers. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. Susan's flower dies work great together with 3-D projects, which are one of my favourite things to make. I love to make houses, so picking the Rounded 3-D Birdhouse as a base for my project was easy. All the flowers were made from white paper and coloured with Distress Inks. The flowers look very intricate, but they are easy to make. The finished project is about 5.5 x 5.5 in. This is another long tutorial, because there are many details and techniques. You don't have to do the entire project, pick just one of the flowers for instance, or just make the birdhouse.

Susan has made great videos where she shows how to make each flower. If you are making a project for someone who loves a particular flower, you can make a flower that looks just like that, but on the other hand, the flowers don't have to look like the example flowers, you can make a large variety of both real and imagined flowers with these dies.

To see the tutorial, head over to the Sizzix blog.

Happy Crafting!!

Anna-Karin

Postage Stamp Suitcase

Hi everyone! I was happy to get to play with the new Darkroom Door Postage Stamps background stamp. Don't miss the post on the Darkroom Door blog where some of my design team mates show different projects using this same stamp.

This is a really useful background stamp which can be used on a large variety of projects: cards, layouts, 3-D projects etc. My first thought when I saw it was of old suitcases covered with stamps or travel destinations stickers. 

 

I made a suitcase using Eileen Hull's Sizzix Suitcase Bag die, which is a favourite of mine. There is a mini-book inside. The suitcase was die cut from cream mat board and stamped with the Postage Stamps background stamp, using Archival Jet Black ink. I inked it with Old Paper and Gathered Twigs. If you want to see a tutorial for another version of the suitcase, I made one here. More suitcases: here, here and here. My suitcases look pretty nice standing together on a shelf.

 

A suitcase needs a ticket and some luggage tags. The ticket was stamped with one of the sentiments from the Nomad set, and the two small tags were inked and stamped with sentiments from New York Vol. 1. 

 

Background stamps don't only need to be used for backgrounds, I stamped the Postage Stamps again, on Ranger's Specialty Stamping paper and coloured three of the stamps lightly with Distress Inks. They were cut out and placed underneath a die cut postage stamp frame, just cut the inner frame away to form a frame. The postage stamp frames were inked first with Brushed Pewter Distress Stain, but I wanted more colour and went over them again with Barn Door Distress Stain, giving them a nice red metallic look. 

 

I kept the back of the suitcase simple because I didn't want to cover up the background, and used only one framed postage stamp.  

 

Here you can see the suitcase from the side.  

 

The two small tags were tied to the handle. I love these types of small sentiment stamps, they are very useful. 

 

On the inside, I stamped the gorgeous Central Park photo stamp with Archival Jet Black and inked with Old Paper, Bundled Sage and Gathered Twigs. I love how it looks like you are looking really far into the suitcase because of the perspective in this stamp. A little left-over bird on my desk flew into the suitcase too. 

 

On the front flap, I stamped a stamp from the Love Letters Vol. 2 set and some more sentiment stamps from New York Vol. 1. As you can see 'N.Y.C' is stamped twice, I forgot that the lower part of the suitcase would be covered up by the flap. 

 

Inside the suitcase there is a small mini-book, which can be filled with travel memories and photos, or perhaps with quotes.  

 

The pages are made from manila cardstock which was coloured with Bundled Sage, Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap and Brushed Pewter Distress Stain. When dry, I cut them into pages (7x8 cm) and stamped them with different background and photo stamps using Frayed Burlap ink. I also added some sentiments and more stamping with black ink. The back of each page was left blank, to give more space for writing or photos. All the edges were inked with Gathered Twigs. 

 

I bound it with my Bind-it-All. This first stamp comes from Venetian Vol. 1. 

 

Here's one of the inside pages, with a stamp from New York Vol. 1.

Thank you for looking!!

Happy Stamping!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

Darkroom Door products:

Background stamps: Postage Stamps, Alphabet, Woodgrain, Stone, French Script

Stamp sets: New York Vol. 1, Nomad, Love Letters Vol. 1, Love Letters Vol. 2, Venetian Vol. 1

Photo stamps: Central Park, Bicycle, Laneway

Other products:

Dies: Sizzix: Suitcase Bag, Tiny Tags & Tabs, Mini Tickets, Mini Bottle Cap & Stamp, Birds on a Wire

Surfaces: Sizzix Little Sizzles cream mat board 6 x 13; Ranger Manila Cardstock, Specialty Stamping Paper

Ink: Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink; Ranger Distress Ink: Old Paper, Gathered Twigs, Bundled Sage, Mustard Seed

Stain: Ranger Distress Stain: Bundled Sage, Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Barn Door, Brushed Pewter

Embellishments: twine; ribbon